Lithium battery cells have become increasingly popular for use in electronic products. Lithium ion and lithium polymer technologies are particularly useful for powering small portable electronic products, such as radios, because of their lightweight and high energy density characteristics. Unfortunately, lithium cells tend to take longer to fully charge. For example, a 3.6 volt nominal, lithium ion cell being charged at a rate of 1 C takes approximately two and a half hours to fully charge as compared to a 1.2 volt nominal nickel metal hydride cell which takes approximately one hour to reach 90 percent capacity. Customers of rechargeable portable electronic products would prefer to have the advantages of both a lightweight product and a reduced charge time.
Hence, it would be advantageous to have a charge system which would reduce the charge time of a lithium battery.